The US state department acknowledged yesterday that there is a risk of Iraq becoming a safe haven for terrorists three years after the invasion of the country.

The warning is contained in the state department's annual country reports on terrorism. The report, which suggests an increase in terrorist attacks worldwide, appears to undermine repeated claims by President George Bush that the US is winning the "war on terrorism".

The report says: "Iraq is not currently a terrorist safe haven, but terrorists including Sunni groups like al-Qaida in Iraq, Ansar al-Islam and Ansar al-Sunna, as well as Shia extremists and other groups, view Iraq as a potential safe haven and are attempting to make it a reality."

The department said some of Iraq's neighbours, including Syria, had not been helpful in the battle to try to prevent the creation of a terrorist safe haven.

The report said there had been more than 11,000 terrorist attacks worldwide, killing 14,600 people, and blamed al-Qaida or al-Qaida-linked groups.

The number of attacks represents a huge increase over the previous year, counter to Mr Bush's claim that the war was being won. But the state department said a revised methodology meant the numbers could not be compared with the 3,129 international terrorism attacks listed the previous year.

Expressing concern about the spread of terrorism in Europe, the report said the July attacks in London "pointed to a new phenomenon in global terrorism, that of homegrown terrorism in Europe."

It added: "Although most of Europe is not a physical safe haven in a literal sense, domestic terrorist groups, as well as al-Qaida and its associated terrorist cells, remain the principal groups of concern in Europe. North African Salafist groups are especially active, such as the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, the Armed Islamic Group, and the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. Moreover, extremist groups recruit and proselytise heavily in some major European cities."